Ben's father George said: "We would like to see a balance where each case is treated on equal terms. That money that we got just about paid for our son's funeral.

"Really, it's not about the money, it's about the principle of it all. It's not just our family, it's all the victims of knife crime and violent crime, and the law is so unjust and unfair."

The couple were told last summer that Mr Alleyne was taking legal action but said they did not believe it would be successful.

Mrs Kinsella said: "We were told about it and we just didn't think it would happen to be honest. We thought there wasn't a case to answer and it would be thrown out of court.

"It's like a slap in the face, we struggle every day. It was reported Mr Alleyne senior has nightmares: well what does he think we do? We're talking about murder, my son was murdered, and I feel that he's benefited from my son's murder."

Her husband added: "My heart is broken. Do I sue anybody for that? Can I sue anybody for that? I don't think so.

"There should be more help for the families of the victims of crime than there is at the moment."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said "We are aware of the claim lodged in the High Court following an incident in N7 on August 30 2008.

"The claim was settled and a sum paid. We are not prepared to discuss further. We do not disclose the amounts of awards following civil claims."

Javed Khan, chief executive of Victim Support, said: "An award like this highlights the massive discrepancies for financial payouts for victims of crime and those who seek injury compensation through civil courts.

"It's not a like-for-like comparison but even so it's no surprise that victims can feel offended by big payouts in civil cases."